In Medias Res
by zookitty
Summary: Lassiter did not have Shawn’s photographic memory, but in that moment he knew he would never forget the look in those green eyes.
1. Prelude

**AN: **This is for the "What did I miss" challenge by Raych over at

Since the site is currently down I promised to put my stories up over here. So here it is the prelude! Woohoo. Chapter 1 is coming soon. I miss psychfic -pouts-

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It was just a glint of light. A normal people wouldn't even have noticed it. To say the least, Shawn Spencer was not a normal person.

Head Detective Lassiter was not as observant as Spencer, nor did he have his photographic memory.

"Lassie!"

Normally Lassiter would have ignored his pseudo colleague, but there was a note of panic in his voice that could not be disregarded. The detective turned as Shawn ran up.

"Lassie you have…" The words died on the fake psychic's tongue. Shawn's face turned pale, those green eyes widened in an emotion the detective had never seen there…fear; and suddenly time stood still.

They say you never hear the one that gets you, but shouldn't you hear the one that was meant for you?

Shawn broke eye contact first…his gaze going to the crimson steadily seeping through his shirt.

Lassiter heard the Chief giving orders. He heard Buzz's side arm go off. He heard Juliet screaming over and over, "Who sent you? WHO SENT YOU?!" He heard it all, but _heard _none of it. The only sound that registered in his brain was the scream that never left Shawn's lips.

Lassiter did not have Shawn's photographic memory, but in that moment he knew he would never forget the look in those green eyes.

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** AN: Cliffhanger!! Dun dun dun! LOL ok everyone, show me some love...review!  
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	2. Chapter 1: Long in Wait

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**AN: **It's finally here! Woohooo!! -happy dances- Major thanks to SydneyWoo, my awesome muse! You've been such an amazing help to me through this whole thing! Also major love to my reviewers! -hugs for everyone-

So also note that an EEG is a brain wave monitor while a EKG is a Heart beat monitor...just so you know. Enjoy the chapter!

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**Chapter 1: Long in Wait**

Juliet walked slowly into the room. It felt so cold. Even after all this time she still had not gotten used to the cold.

"Hey Shawn," she whispered, "Sorry I haven't been by lately." She made her way further into the room, taking a seat by his side. "It's just…hard…" her voice trailed off as she looked around the room.

Cards, flowers and of course pineapples lined the tables. Still freshly replaced each time she visited.

"So many people care about you Shawn, so many people that really need you." She stood and walked to the window, running her hand across the sill. Pictures lined every inch of it, smiles she hadn't seen in so long. There were some of Gus and Shawn as kids. One of five year old Shawn asleep in his fathers arms during a fishing trip. The one Jules remembered from the race track, where Gus and Shawn posed like gangsters…but at least Henry was smiling.

There were more she had gotten from the forensics guys, who apparently made a hobby out of taking pictures of the Psychic's antics. For instance, a picture of him sitting cross legged on her desk while they ate take out that one time. Apparently they had even managed to take one of Shawn landing on Lassiter's lap after the notorious 'dazzle and stretch' incident. How the forensics guys managed it she couldn't be sure, but after that she never changed in the women's locker room again.

Juliet sighed knowing she could not push it off any longer. Slowly she turned to face Shawn. His skin was pale as the sheets he lay on, and he was so thin. The doctors tried, but they could not keep the weight on him.

He looked asleep. As if she could touch him and he would wake up. That was the hardest part. After every visit it became painfully obvious that he may never wake up again. That's why she stayed away. Because if she wasn't looking at him it was easy to pretend he would come bouncing through the door. If she wasn't looking at him she could trick herself into believing that he would come in with a smile on his lips and a look in those brown eyes that would swallow her up. Then everything would go back to the way it was, the way she was sure it was meant to be.

"Look at me, blaming the guy in a coma for all my troubles," she almost laughed, but she couldn't. This wasn't 'a guy in a coma'. It was Shawn, and every time she saw him lying there, more quiet than he had ever been in his life…she knew that things wouldn't go back to the way they were.

Tears sparkled in her blue eyes, as she slowly ran a hand through his hair.

"I went to see your father yesterday," she began, staring down into the unresponsive face. "He..um…he's doing well I think. He's coming today, everyone is." Her eyes turned to the EEG, the only proof that her friend was even still in there. The visits had dwindled lately. They all needed to move on, in their own sometimes painful ways. But they had not forgotten; Shawn was always on their minds.

Silently they all agreed to come that day. Because it was on that day, a year before those bullets pierced the chest of Shawn Spencer. It was a year they had lived each day wondering if he would wake up. It was a year since their lives had changed so drastically. It was a year since that fateful day that not even the Psychic saw coming.

It had been a year and still he slept.

"Juliet?"

She looked up at the familiar voice and gave a sad smiled.

"Gus," she replied, hugging him warmly. She took a step back, looking him over. His face was tight, those lines of stress rarely left his features anymore. It was only magnified by the fact that he didn't smile. Not ever that she had seen. Not since…

"Is anyone else here?" she asked.

"Chief Vick and Buzz," he replied.

"Ok, I'll be right there." She waited till he disappeared out the door before going back over to Shawn. She leaned in close, her lips brushing against his ear as she whispered. "You need to wake up Shawn…I need you to wake up." With that she turned and followed Gus out the door.

As she entered the all too familiar waiting room she saw Gus speaking to the chief and the tall cop beside her.

"Chief Vick, Buzz," Juliet gave them one of her patented sad smiles. The chief returned the smile, and continued her conversation with Gus.

"Detective O'Hara…er….head detective?" Buzz asked.

"I told you to call me Juliet," she replied. "How's Francie?"

"She's doing great, tired though," the cop replied.

"Tired is understandable, I remember how the Chief was."

He nodded his agreement, cringing slightly at the memory.

"Is Mr. Spencer here yet?" Juliet asked as Gus and Karen came over to join them. The chief's eyes shifted to something over her shoulder and Jules turned to follow her gaze. Henry Spencer sat in one of the cold chairs down the hall a ways. She looked back to Gus. "Why don't you take the others on inside, I'll be right there." Gus nodded understandingly. Juliet had been the glue that held them together through all of this. Gus had taken care of all the practical decisions needing to be made about Shawn, but in his opinion O'Hara had taken on the much harder job of dealing with everyone on an emotional level. He knew she checked on Henry regularly, making sure he didn't spend all his time alone. She also had a knack for being available when Gus needed to talk and she seemed to empathize with what he was saying even when he couldn't understand it himself. With her gentle touch and soft words she had managed to keep the two people closest to Shawn from falling apart over this trying year. Gus couldn't help but admire her strength.

Jules walked down the long hallway to where the older man sat, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Mr. Spencer?"

He looked up at her with tired eyes that lightened ever so slightly when they saw her.

"I need a moment Juliet," he replied to her unspoken concern. Quietly she took a seat beside him, supporting without words.

Henry stared at the cold tile floor. A year. One long horrible year his son had been in this hospital. Wasn't it supposed to get easier? When his father died Henry remembered it got easier day by day. When Shawn left after graduation, it had gotten easier after time. But Shawn wasn't dead, he wasn't gone. He was here. So close, but so distant. Somewhere Henry couldn't reach him. Henry couldn't help him, couldn't save him. He couldn't do any of the things a father was supposed to do when their kid needed them.

The retired cop sucked in a breath and stood, walking toward the room. He slowly pushed open the door. Whatever the conversation was stopped, but he ignored the other people in the room.

Isn't there supposed to be a time when this got easier? Maybe next time he would be able to walk through those doors without having to gather the strength. Maybe next time he wouldn't feel his chest constrict when he looked down at his child, but Henry hoped not. The day those things happened would be the day he gave up on Shawn, and he would not…could not ever do that. He felt a hand on his arm and smiled softly at his former partner. Karen's grip tightened sympathetically. Henry had never been a tactile person…but somehow it helped.

--

Juliet watched Henry entered the room. She would follow in a minute. The blonde detective really wasn't sure what was keeping her out there. Why she was still waiting. She was fairly certain that _he _wasn't coming, but Juliet O'Hara was never one to give up on people.

When you work with someone, even for as short a time as two years, you begin to see how they act…how the react; but Jules had never seen Lassiter like he was now. As he had been for the last year.

She closed her eyes, feeling him walk up before she saw him.

"You came," the young detective said, turning to her former partner. His hair was uncombed and getting kind of long. Still, it was his eyes that showed the biggest change. They were different, though she couldn't say how.

"I am," he replied quietly. Juliet chewed on her lip. Why was it so hard to find words to say?

"Everyone else is inside," she informed him, "Are you gonna come in?"

His only response was a slight shake of the head. Sadly she left him there, joining the others inside the room.

--

They had all come and gone as he stood there around the corner, drinking nasty hospital coffee and not letting his mind wander further than the blank wall in front of him.

"Sir, sir…visiting hours are almost over." Lassiter looked up at the nurse standing before him. "You have a few more minutes." It seemed a strange thing to say, but he disregarded it. Why did it matter if he had a few more minutes if he wasn't going in anyway?

He walked down the hall, most people were gone now. It was almost eerily quiet. His feet stopped as if by their own accord. Carlton found himself in front of a familiar hospital room.

Spencer's room.

He couldn't do it. It had been months since he saw the young psychic.

"Five more minutes." He jumped as the nurse seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"Yeah thanks," he replied. What was with her? Couldn't she see he had no intention of going in _there_. So why had his hand just turned the knob.

Lassiter took a breath, stilling his thoughts, and pushed open the door. The room was no different from when he last visited a few months before.

"Spencer," he forced the greeting to sound hard and disapproving. Lassiter had read that it sometimes helps coma victims to hear familiar things. With a sigh he ran a hand through his motley hair, and took a seat beside the too still psychic. "I…" Shawn was so pale. "…I just…" He looked thinner too. "…I should…" Lassiter could still see it in his mind. "I'm sorry." The words choked past his lips. "I did this." Beep. "You're here because of me." Beep. "Because of me." Lassiter shoved the chair away. Beep. The sound of the EKG burned into his mind. It sounded off somehow. The doctors would know if something was wrong though, wouldn't they? Hesitantly he returned to the hallway. There was the nurse again. She stood there with a knowing smile on her face that bothered him for some reason.

"You should check on him, um…Shawn Spencer, there's something off about his heartbeat."

"I will," she replied. With that Lassiter turned and left the creepy nurse behind.

--

The nurse entered the room, listening to the EKG. It sounded normal. A slow but continuous beeping; but as she stood there she saw the difference. The heartbeat sped up. The readings on the EEG were also changing. Her hand rose to her mouth, the other quickly messing with her pager. She knew the signs.

He was waking up!

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**AN: **Please review! I hope you like this, it was hard but soo fun to write!

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	3. Chapter 2: Memory's Carousel

**AN: **Hey everyone! Thank you all for the amazing reviews, I read and apperciate each of them

Sooo here is chapter 2!! Woohooo

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**Chapter 2: Memory's Carousel **

Juliet leaned against the door frame outside her apartment complex. It had been along day, but not really bad considering. She spent the whole day in Shawn's hospital room in honor of the one year anniversary.

It was only now that she was alone that she let the strong façade drop. It was only now she allowed the tears to fall. Approaching headlights caught her attention and she hastily wiped the trails of moisture from her face, plastering on a smile and praying it didn't look fake.

"Adrian," she greeted as the tall man walked up. With a compassionate smile he wrapped his arms around her.

"My Juliet," he replied. She pressed her lips against his, pulling back to look up into his blue eyes. They stayed that way for several silent moments. Juliet couldn't shake the feeling that she was being analyzed. She untangled herself from his embrace, brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

"What is it?"

He shrugged, his shoulders rising and sloping with model like precision.

"How did today go?" Adrian asked finally, opening the car door for her.

"Today?"

"It's been a year today, I was just wondering how that makes you feel?" he answered, starting the ignition.

"Shouldn't you leave the shrink at the office?" Jules replied, defensively.

"Juliet, I'm asking as your boyfriend not as some psychiatrist," Adrian replied, with the patience of Job. "I care about you." He reached over, gently laying a hand on her shoulder.

"I was fine," she answered shortly. The head detective leaned against the window her eyes drifting to the blissfully clear sky, but seeing none of it.

--

"Henry! We weren't expecting to see you tonight."

"I couldn't resist the urge to relieve you of some of that money that's always weighing you down Jenkins," Henry replied with a laugh. A forced laugh always sounds forced, but never more so than in a room full of retired cops. Jenkins didn't get the position of detective without good reason. His eyebrow rose slightly. "I need a distraction," the older Spencer admitted. Not another word was spoken of it that night.

--

Adrian was an incredibly decent guy, and Juliet enjoyed having dinner with him. Tonight she laughed, smiled and replied at the right times. She loved being with Adrian, she honestly did. He helped her forget about pineapples and roster calls. At least he normally did.

Juliet snapped out of her reverie when she noticed he was looking at her intently.

"Hmmm?" she asked innocently.

"I was just wondering if you would like to take a walk with me."

"Adrian, its late…I have to get to work early tomorrow and I…"

He took her hand, that piercing gaze halting her voice.

"Come walk with me Juliet."

The look in his eyes—so serious and deep—caused her to relent.

--

Gus stared at the large window, green letters stirring back old memories. Slowly he entered the Psych office. It looked exactly like it did a year ago, except for the collecting dust. He took a cloth, running it across the desk. He took the growing stack of mail and placed it in a neat stack on the desk. He settled into his chair, swiveling it to face the door. He could almost see Shawn, standing there at the door.

_Gus! I have the last job we will ever need!_

_ Don't be a gooey chocolate chip cookie Gus._

He shivered. Whenever he came here he could almost _feel _Shawn.

-Ring-

_It could be Jules…She might be in a ditch…or in the shower._

_ She has a shower phone?_

_ I certainly hope so. _

-Ring-

Gus jumped as he realized the phone was in fact ringing. He glanced at the caller ID…just to make sure. It was an unfamiliar number. Gus stood back up shaking his head. If he saw anyone acting the way he was now, he would have called them crazy.

"Burton Guster."

"Mr. Guster? This is St. Jude hospital…"

--

The waves lapped against the shore, the full moon cast its silver rays across the water, and the warmth of his fingers intertwined with hers. It was stunningly romantic, but Juliet felt anything but stunned.

She felt a slight tug on her hand, and turned to Adrian. The light reflected in his blue eyes, and slowly he lowered his hand to his pocket. Juliet knew what it was before he pulled it out.

"Adrian…" she whispered, silently pleading him to turn back before they couldn't.

"Juliet, I've known you for a year now, and I know we've only been dating for a short time, but I love you." She looked down as he peeled back the lid of that small velvet box. This was the moment most girls dream about and despite her volatile dogma on the matter, Juliet had entertained the idea as much as the next girl. But there in the moment there was no spark, no butterflies in her gut. Instead, her heart was gripped with sadness.

"Adrian…"

He placed the box in her hand.

"I didn't make this decision lately and I don't expect you to," he replied.

"Adrian I…" –Ring-

The sorrow slipped into her eyes unbidden.

"It could be work," she whispered.

"Answer it," he encouraged, but she couldn't miss the disappointment in his eyes. Turning her back from him.

"O'Hara," she answered. The color drained from her face. "What?"

--

A collective groan filled the room.

"This must be my lucky night." Henry smirked as he won his fifth hand that night.

"If I didn't know you better I'd have to ask what's up your sleeve," Jenkins laughed.

"You wish," Henry retorted.

-Ring-

"Henry Spencer," he answered.

"Mr. Spencer this is St. Jude hospital…your son Shawn is waking up."

--

He watched the lights spinning around in front of his vision. Spinning, and spinning like a carousel.

_The carousel is for sissies!_

The lights continued to spin, like a ball.

_Spencer we don't have balls._

It was a bright white light, not like the soft yellow ones. Soft yellow…like butter.

_Butyraceous_

The light continued to shine, uncaringly into his blurry eyes, and that scared him.

_The glint of light…_

Why did it scare him? He couldn't remember. It was just a glint of light.

_Lassie…_

His head was pounding. He let his eyes slip shut. It didn't matter…he was so tired.

_Lassie!!_

Beep. Beep. Beep. The beeping reached his ears, sounding distant and distorted like he was underwater. Beep Beep Beep. The sound speed up as the pounding in his chest began.

_No…Lassie! _

Pain flared through his chest as fear tore through his heart and he let out a scream.

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**AN: **Chapter 3 is on it's way...just hold on! And yeah...I don't really like Adrian either. (lol) poor guy...he has horrible timing ne?


	4. Chapter 3: Emerald Green

**AN: **It's here!! Finally. I'm so sorry I kept you all waiting so long! This chapter is short because I wanted to post it faster (my plot bunnies returned! woohoo) but the next will be much longer.

Major prompts to SydneyWoo who kept on me to get this posted, also to all my reviewers (sooo do I get that cookie Emi?)

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**Chapter 3: Emerald Green**

"Mr. Spencer!" he looked down the hall to see a familiar nurse coming his way. Amidst the faces that blurred together over the last year, hers stood out clearly. "He's awake."

Henry was somewhere between tears and laughter. He followed in a trance, not daring to hope least he wake and find it all a dream. The nurse's hand was on the doorknob when they heard a scream. It was panicked, but quiet. Henry was vaguely aware of shoving the nurse out of the way and flinging open the door.

Incoherent mutters instantly assaulted Henry's ears. Shawn's arms flailed weakly about his bed, his lips moving but forming no recognizable words. Henry saw the doctor at his son's side, trying to calm him. Henry was instantly beside Shawn, whispering quietly and softly like he had the time little Shawn fell off his bike and broke his arm. Slowly, the younger Spencer stilled his heart rate slowing.

The retired cop sunk back into one of the hard metal chairs, his own heart beat still above normal. Henry just watched. Shawn was just as pale and thin as he was in his comatosed state, and now he was just as quiet again…

"Is he really awake?"

The young female doctor nodded.

"Most people are unaware but coming out of a coma can be a slow, gradual process," she informed him, her words corporal and cold but her tone soft and understanding. She rested a hand lightly on his shoulder. "If he wakes up again it could be a while before his vocal and motor skills return. We just don't know yet." Henry nodded mutely, his emotions too many and to large to name.

Henry didn't notice the doctor leave, his eyes glued to the still figure on the bed.

Shawn was coming out of a coma.

The strong and hard Henry Spencer felt tears run down his face.

--

Juliet knew she should be more considerate—Adrian _had_ just proposed to her—but all her mind kept returning to was, why hadn't she asked to drive? She needed to get to the hospital and she needed to get there fast, because no doctor's words could make her believe it was true until she looked into those green eyes for herself.

She couldn't bring herself to actually look at Adrian, not when her mind kept conjuring images of laughter, soft voice, bright eyes. Shawn's laugh, Shawn's voice, Shawn's bright green eyes.

Jules was glaring at the traffic light just daring it to turn red, when her attention finally returned to the man beside her.

"Why are you turning left?" she asked, trying not to sound as agitated as she felt.

"There's a wreck on the interstate, I'm gonna have to go around it," he replied, his voice that controlled calm he used on his patients.

Thinking back Juliet would never know what possessed her, but she jerked open the car door. Adrian instantly pulled over, coming to a stop and staring at her with utter shock. She wasn't mad at him, wasn't mad at anyone, she just needed to be there. She needed to see Shawn wake up. So, it was with only that in mind that she left Adrian sitting there and _ran _to the hospital.

--

Henry didn't even look up when Gus entered the room. He did not seem to notice at all. Gus walked to his friend's bedside and stared down into the lax face. Shawn did not look all that different from when Gus had been there earlier that day, but the monitor reading his brain waves said differently and Gus could not have been happier. He grasped his friend's hand ignoring any rules of "manly" he had ever learned.

"Shawn…I'm here…you can wake up now," he coxed. "No one's called me a geek in a year, I'm starting to forget so you better wake up and remind me."

A mutter was his only response, but it was the most beautiful thing Gus could remember hearing. Shawn murmured a clear and distinct "Lass" but the rest sounded like drug induced gibberish. Gus let out a laugh of relief. He could only imagine how crazed it had sounded, but the only other fully conscious occupant of the room was in tears and beaming like a fool—neither he or Henry planned on calling the other on it.

--

Juliet skidded to a stop outside the hospital room, her feet bare from abandoning her shoes during the dash. The door was open revealing Henry and Gus standing at opposite sides of the bed. The same play of emotions she was feeling ran across their faces.

That's when she saw it.

His eyelids fluttered, slight and almost unnoticeable. It was only a split second, but it was instantly followed with a moan.

Juliet was suddenly staring into emerald green.

The green of Shawn's eyes staring back at her.


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